Abstract: The aim of the paper is to present results of the archaeozoological analysis of
animal bone remains and to reconstruct animal exploitation segment of the economy of
the people living in Bakr Awa during different phases of the Bronze Age. In the Early
Dynastic period, the remains of sheep and goat accounted for the majority of the material
identified to a genus/species (NISP, 74.1%). Based upon age-of-death, the ovicaprines
were killed, above all, for meat. There is preferential selection for the proximal part of
the hind limb. Apart from small ruminants, there were also remains of cattle and more
rarely equids. In the Akkadian period, new elements emerged in the economy, namely, pig
and poultry breeding as well as wild animal hunting. The type of economy shifted from
nomadic to more sedentary, pastoral, lasting from the Akkadian period to the end of the
Late Bronze Age.

Key words: nomadism; pastoralism; animal economy; Iraq; Bronze Age

Received 16 March 2015; accepted 20 August 2015; published online 6 September 2015.